


yellow wood

by raewxi



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M, will update tags as story go along, yellow wood! AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:21:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 14,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22730914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raewxi/pseuds/raewxi
Summary: in a town called yellow wood, there are more secrets than you thinknothing is as normal as it seems and the key to it all lies hidden(very slow updates bc sch issa bij :c)
Relationships: Bang Chan & Han Jisung | Han & Seo Changbin, Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. prologue: chan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first time posting on ao3, my style's unstable so pls bear with me :(
> 
> (n)ost for this fic: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/61uFthBJ3ybh933U2pc56l?si=nX8IwFnqS3WDMXxLDaMNBA
> 
> hmu on twt or tumblr, the users r both @raewxi

**prologue: 1. chan**

chan rode his bike home after dropping felix off at the lee’s patisserie.

felix had slung his bag over his shoulders, the late afternoon sun hit his eyes and illuminated them a honey gold. “don’t you wanna come in for tea? pretty sure the eclairs haven’t sold out. yet.” he adds with a mischievous grin.

chan shook his head and got back onto his bike, which felt empty since now the passenger was missing, their pair of warm small hands had left his side.

“promised nonna i would be home for dinner,” chan pat his tummy for show, inciting a grin from felix.

pushing the doors of the patisserie open, felix lee bade farewell to his best friend. “see ya tomorrow then chan hyung!”

“see ya!”

chan cycles past the main street of yellow wood and turns three corners later, winding into a smaller alley up the hills and passing the fresh fields of tall green grass.

the houses here are mainly dainty cottages and two-storey semi bungalows, red tiles and brown and grey walls, occasionally a pop of azure blue or mustard yellow.

then he hears it, a persistent whining, low and filled with terror. _poor thing_ , chan thinks, _probably an injured stray_. he follows the whimpering to the recycling bins placed after every stretch of houses, there are overflowing black trashbags and chan sees the tush of orangey red fur poking out amidst them.

chan pushes apart the bags and bingo! he finds the source of the noise. it was a small fox pup, shivering from whatever injury and infection it is afflicted with. it looks up at chan with innocent, watery puppy eyes (it’s a fox, for god’s sake!).

gingerly, without frightening the pup too much, chan scoops it up and nestles the poor thing in his arms. the pup tries to wrestle its way out of his arms, but gives a startled yelp and lose its balance.

chan grins a little at the dirty and dusted pup. yellow wood had gotten its name from the woods it neighboured, the woods were full of golden penda trees that blooms bushy yellow blossoms in fall. hence the name, yellow wood. the woodland creatures aren’t a sacred presence in town, sometimes they lose their way and end up in the residential areas.

“look at ‘ya, poor bud,” chan gives the pup scratches under it’s chin lightly, the creature hums with pleasure and warms up to chan. “how did you end up here? hmm?”

“let’s get us home.”

chan somehow manoeuvres the pup into a somewhat comfortable position using his hoodie and shoving it between the handles and his chest. someway or another, chan and his newfound buddy made it home.

“nonna?” chan finds an empty living room as he steps into the house, but he smells something familiar and comforting. the smell of baked cookies, highly chocolatety and mildly sweet. 

with the fox pup in his arms, chan makes his way to the kitchen. of course, he finds his nonna setting trays of freshly baked cookies on the kitchen counter to cool.

“channie,” his nonna spots the armful of fiery fur straightaway, “where did you find that poor darling?”

chan gives his nonna a quick peck and struggles to find something to place the pup into. “by the trashbins up the slope, he’s probably lost and got injured or something.”

his nonna produces a spare basket from the cabinets and chan lines it with his already sooty hoodie, and tenderly lays the pup down. 

“i’ll get some milk to feed him, poor kid’s just fresh off the woods.” nonna smiles kindly at the pup, who yaps delightfully, as if they had reached some sort of mutual understanding.

chan leaves nonna and the pup alone and steals a couple of cookies off the counter, nonna good-naturedly shoos him off, promising more cookies. chan knows the cookies are mostly for delivery to lee’s patisserie, where there’s a small corner for nonna to sell her cookies.

mister lee always smiles when chan delivers them and pick up his son for school, “they sell like hot cakes!” and all three of then will burst into some sort of expired laughter, it was just a really lame dad joke.

chan shuffles into his room, and falls face first into his pillows. he fished his phone out of his jeans pocket, selecting a starred chat.

**me**

_i found a fox pup in the trash piles near jisung’s place_

**lix**

_awww_

_you’ve got pics??_

**me**

_he’s in a basket downstairs rn_

_probably trying to suck up to my nonna_

**lix**

_this is why berry hates you_

**me**

_hey !!!! >:c _

_berry loves me kay_

_this is the new kid on the block_

_he needs to earn his place_

**lix**

_whateva u say big boss_

_rmb the pics kays i havent seen a fox outside of the zoo_

**me**

_alrightys loser_

  
  


chan locks his phone and makes his way down again, calling for berry, who probably off somewhere in nonna’s vaguely big cottage exploring dog treasures.

berry appears, floppy ears and hanging tongue and hops for chan’s embrace.

“you big clingy boy,” chan teases his dog who welcomes him with sloppy kisses and lets go in disgust. “ugh, careful you get food poisoning from my filth you lug.”

berry finds himself stopping short of the table nonna has placed the fox pup on, both animals have their ears peaked. finally, the pup peeks over the top of the basket with intelligent eyes.

nonna pets the pup with one hand and berry the other, chan sneaks a few cute shots for felix and packs the cookies while nonna cooks dinner.

they talk about nonna’s growing collection of wildflowers in their backyard, what to do with the fox pup (“you could have a new pet!” nonna suggests with a cheeky smile with chan’s wrinkles his nose) and chan’s friends (“where’s the lee’s kid?” nonna asks in a teasing tone, chan feels his cheeks grow warm for no reason. “he hasn’t come in a while... i’m sure he would love to see the pup.”)

it was a peaceful evening. chan appreciates the warmth it brings.

chan wakes up to the startling noise of his alarm and slams snooze. groaning and rolling onto his side, and drags his dreary body out of bed.

he grabs breakfast and refills berry’s bowl, checking on the fox pup who is snoozing comfortably in his basket.

chan leaves home after bading goodbye to nonna, hopping onto his bike and speeding towards a certain brown and beige house.

-

the day moved on in a blur, chan has his lessons and break with his gang of friends. jisung and changbin decided it was a good idea to add gochus into mason jang’s sandwich (and as usual chan had to save their asses). 

chan sends felix back home after school and they talk about felix’s upcoming taekwondo competitions. chan has faith in his friend, felix had every potential to do well.

he goes home with a happy heart, unaware of a surprise waiting for him.

there’s a boy in chan’s house, and chan doesn’t know his name. his vibe is familiar, even though he couldn’t pinpoint a name to it.

he had black hair trailing around his ears, a pair of alert eyes and a small mole at the bottom of his left eye.

the boy was standing on the landing of the stairs leading up to chan’s room, a snickers bar in his hands. they make eye contact and chan gets a deja vu feel that makes him shake his his head a little, confused about the sudden encounter.

for sure the boy wasn’t a yellow wood resident, or chan would have seen him around. the boy seems hardly surprised by chan’s appearance.

“i’m hyunjin.” the boy speaks out first, and chan attempt to flash a friendly grin. “you must be chan.”

chan nods and scratches his head a little awkwardly, “yea, nice to meet you hyunjin! uh, no offence but uh, what are you doing here? are you like a cousin or like nonna’s friend’s grandson or- “

“i’m a new tenant here,” the boy offers a small smile, “nonna said there’s a room for rent here.”

chan’s confused, nonna hasn’t really mentioned anything about renting their spare rooms out. but now that there’s someone living here, the house will seem less empty.

it was a welcomed change, the house has always been mostly empty, once made to accommodate a much bigger family. two residents made it seem much emptier, berry's too tiny to be counted at a third.

chan doesn't realise anything amiss, in fact, he's missing the fact that a certain basket in empty. void of its previously furry resident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also yes if you haven't realise i suck at writing dialogues :')
> 
> constructive criticism is welcomed here!!! tell me how you feel about reading it or anything just say smth heheh
> 
> have u guys realise what hyunjin is ;)


	2. prologue: minho

**prologue: 2. minho**

minho hates his status, he hates playing pretty, he hates sitting around dressed fancy in a facade of smiles and sweet words dripped in lies.

but he’s the prince of levanhall, so he will have to play along. so he puts another drink of royal cordial to his mouth, smiling to a crude joke by a royalty he doesn’t know the name of.

prince lee minho, his highness lee know, the master of sooni, doongi and dori, his crown prince the 9th of levanhall, guardian of the yellow wood towers, master archer of levanter. he lost track of his roles as he grew older, as more responsibilities piled up. 

minho thinks it’s a sore to be royal. the elves and their traditions with emphasis on balance between and the yellow wood and the miroh, the elves and their stupid, _stupid_ superiority over the rest of yellow wood’s residents, self-proclaimed royals of this place.

it’s been centuries, when minho was born this place was nothing but stretch and _stretch_ of woods, of people who lived in fear under tyranny and sorrow. but it has grown, _grown_ into glistening towers and warm abodes made of stronger bases and intricate machinery.

minho finds his mind wandering off, running his fingers through sooni’s smooth coat. sooni curls herself tenderly in his lap, purring warmly in the cool spring breeze of levanter, sweeping over the grand mahogany table and whipping around pillars carved with centuries of lores.

he could pick up the whistling in the tall grass, the small squeaks wrapped around tree branches, the sniffles across the lake, and minho basks in his small world for a while. this is his escape from the stifling reality of levanter.

levanhall was pretty, levanhall was ideal, levanhall was everything good and gold and grand and _sweet_.

and rotten to the core.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the writing style's a little different than chan's prologue but i'm not a stable writer so yes my writing style is weird and shitty but bear with me :((


	3. prologue: hyunjin

**prologue: 3. hyunjin**

hyunjin opens his eyes, it’s brighter than he likes, he blinks multiple times to adapt to the too orangey sunlight that filters into his room and landing on his bed.

he flips onto his side and discovers two beady eyes staring at him. it’s the grandson, chan's dog, barry? _berry_? or something of that sorts. the puppy cocks his head and stares at the new kid in the building. hyunjin frowns a little and considers returning a bark.

it’s weird to have a room to himself, to feel warm and full, but hyunjin is grateful. he’s thankful that the old witch welcomed him into the cottage without much questions, just a small request, actually.

_“just keep an eye on my grandson, he doesn’t know too much.”_

it’s the older guy he’s seen around for a bit, who had curly brown hair and a pleasant demeanor, hyunjin thinks his will enjoy his time.

and maybe heal a little.

he hasn’t had time to explore the place yet, yellow wood seemed like a pretty town. too _pretty_ and _calm_ , too _nice_ and _charming_ , it seemed innocent of secrets hidden in the woods.

the dog has scuttled off elsewhere to find its owner, perhaps, and hyunjin decides it’s time to wake up.

he might even go to school, it’s a bit boring to stay at home all day anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> small hyunjin thoughts, note that not everyone will get a prologue ye it's just some intro for characters
> 
> at first i wanted to put the whole prologue tgt but i think it will be quite messy sike
> 
> also my style is still in a mess oh dangs


	4. prologue: jisung

**prologue: 4. jisung**

han jisung is a mess. he thinks he’s doing fine actually, but that’s a well-conceived lie. his room is a complete mess, there are clothes on the floor and empty bottles by the side of his bed (water bottles, for starters, jisung is a mess but he is not an alcoholic), his basketball lies somewhere beneath the mess and his keyboard perches crookedly on his study table, probably half an inch from toppling.

he reaches for his phone on the nightstand piled with notebooks, a portable charger, his favourite photo with his friends and a miniature squirrel sculpture changbin thought was a good gag gift. notifs show there’s unread messages from his group chats and a few others.

  
  


**cbhyung**

_i hope u aren’t ded_

**spearbitch**

_he’s prolly still snoring away_

**cbhyung**

_let us know when u wake up_

_uh we can go to felix’s to hang out_

_maybe like at the lake lol_

**spearbitch**

_hyung admit it u just want to see that punk_

  
  


jisung snickers at how oblivious and obvious chan could get. all of them had been living in yellow wood since they were kids, felix lee (whose korean name was yongbok, despite how much he claims to hate it he reallty does love it), bang chan (the oldest of the bunch, and the self-acclaimed dad) and seo changbin (still older than jisung, but they were like annoying besties). 

they are sort of a gang-gang, the kind of _gang-gang_ that sticks together for life, they’ve all grown up in this small seaside town together. this place where all their memories piled up into a life. jisung thinks it’s a little cliched, but he enjoyed this small town life so far.

his fingers dances across the phone, crafting out a reply

**me**

_onz_

_lee’s at 11?? bring food pls idw to end up like last time_

_where we all thought we were gonna d word lonely_

_and tired in the woods_

_that was scary pls no not again_

**spearbitch**

_you’re fuckin melodramatic stop it hanji_

**me**

_stfu i didn’t ask to be attacked_

  
  
_ah yes_ , a perfectly normal day, jisung thinks and roll out of bed with a thud and hit his toe on the dresser. _perfectly fuckin’ normal_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things will start getting serious from here, dw everyone gets their arc bc i'm nice and :)
> 
> fantasy au means everything isn't like how it appears to be oof yas ;)


	5. an intro to yellow wood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: slow updates because i write slow and i have sch and other commitments :') if ur interested in my everyday life thats honestly kinda boring u can hit me up on twt @raewxi
> 
> just a filler chapter to fill in on details that i thought out in setting the AU, some facts may change along the way but this is a basis (will not be revealing too many character traits bc that wld mean spoilers :)

**_yellow wood au_ **

where there are two dimensions and stray kids are the keepers of yellow wood’s reality —

3racha childhood friends (+ felix), seungmin is chan’s neighbour and hyunjin is a tenant at chan's house.

felix’s family owns a famous bakery in town (lee’s pâtisserie).

[huehuehue minho and jeongin will be revealed shortly but i think minho's prologue reveals a bit about who he is // woojin will have a cameo so don't worry]

**yellow wood:** the magical woods that is also the entrance to miroh. an alternate reality that is the inverse of existence, where the shadow creatures reside in. it is also the name of the town so don’t get confused. if i'm writing about the town i will call it yellow wood, if it's about the forest it's yellow woods.

fair and shadow creatures both reside in yellow wood and they are protected by yellow woods’s self defence mechanism which causes hallucinations to normal humans (in which they eventually get lost or lose their minds).

**fair creatures:** harmless creatures which reside on the bright side of reality in yellow wood. eg: elves, faeries, werewolves (only a few), witches, nymphs etc

**shadow creatures:** dark creatures that lives on the side of yellow wood (miroh), instinctively wants to takeover the yellow wood but the stray and the magic of the clé prevents them from doing so. they feed on human misery so the more miserable the world becomes the stronger they get

**hellevator:** the linking bridge between miroh and reality, is controlled by the clé. works somewhat like an elevator. changes location everytime so it’s hard to locate the hellevator unless you are _____ ___ because the clé works like a compass and brings you to the hellevator.

**clé:** the key to the hellevator, which is controlled by someone chosen, the clé chooses its owner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> q&a r welcomed in the comments!! constructive input is what will push the story along anw :3


	6. the clé

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short one for now bc i suck at maintaining plot

**1\. felix**

felix lee feels something dip in his chest, he doesn’t know where it came from. but there’s this _calling_ , this exhilaration deep down. and he races across the field to tackle han jisung, who rolls over the muddy fields ungracefully.

“oh, _seriously_ ,” jisung dusts down his tainted trousers as best he could, “ _screw you_.”

“ew,” felix replies with a lopsided grin. “if i were you i won’t worry that much about a few grass stains, it’s probably still cleaner then your room.”

jisung grunts an inaudible reply and flips felix off, earning a few laughs from the gang. for the rest of the hour they just sit around and eat their lunch, talking about school work and shenanigans from their club activities.

when the day ends he gets onto the bike together with chan, it’s their routine and felix loves how familiar and good it made him feel. like an old memory that’s fresh, a warm scent that comforts one even when things seem bleak. 

he’s slightly disappointed when chan tells him that the fox pup he rescued had disappeared over the previous day; felix could’ve gotten a glimpse of the pup. a rare chance since felix’s never had much luck with wild animals.

“awww, it’s fine.” chan tries to console him with a warm smile, “nonna’s rented a room out, so we’ve got a new tenant. he’s probably your age, yeah. name’s hyunjin, moved here from the city.”

“why though?” felix thinks it might be weird for someone from the city to move to yellow wood, after all, despite the easily accessible facilities, it is still just a small seaside town.

“don’t know, i didn’t ask.” chan takes a turn through an alleyway, a shortcut to the lee’s patiserie and they arrive a few moments later.

there’s someone else in the shop, a tall boy with black hair trailing a little down his neck. chan seems surprised by the kid, “that’s hyunjin, i’ll go say hi and maybe grab some victoria sponge for nonna.” 

felix acknowledges by nodding his head and they push the door open, the little bell on the door chimes and hyunjin turns to look at the entrance.

“hey!” chan smiles amicably at his tenant, the boy seems quite shy but manages to return a small smile.

“whatchu doin’ here?” chan picks up a tray and a pair of tongs and goes straight for the victoria sponge, two apple crumbles and felix knows he would want eclairs, he slips behind the counter and gets them out of the fridge before olivia could say anything.

hyunjin looks mildly surprised at the question directed at him, “oh, just to explore the town and grab a quick bite. i heard the bakery’s famous.”

chan’s smile grew wider, “yeah? it definitely is, everything is just so good here!”

“you wanna go home together?” as chan pays while felix mans the counter and swiftly pulls his apron around him, he turns to look at hyunjin, who’s admiring the rows of cakes in their freezer: red velvet and blackforest and matcha powder and tiramisu…

“sure.”

as felix sends chan out of the shop with a big wave and a slight nod to hyunjin, whom chan had introduced formally after paying, he can’t help but feel this weird floaty feeling in the bottom of his stomach.

-

it was an exceptionally rainy night, which meant felix had trouble getting home because he obviously was not old enough to drive. chan’s was probably helping out at the jung’s diner, since he worked night shifts on friday.

he really couldn’t possibly call his parents too, they were probably still at the bakery. left with no options, felix grudgingly gets onto his bike and begins a disgustingly wet ride back home.

rain caught in any possible spot on his body, the wind made it worse since it was just so cold. felix tries to make himself as small as possible to retain the warmth, it would be great if he could have a hot bath as soon as he got home. felix thinks about the possible piping soup that might still be on the stove, hopefully olivia had left some for him.

cycling past the woods was a little creepy too, considering the wind was howling and it was too close to his ears. felix puts more strength on the pedals and picks up speed down the slopes. if he was fast enough, he could get home within fifteen minutes from the training center - but he wasn’t getting lucky tonight.

felix doesn’t know what compelled him to stop that night as thunder rolled around like stones in the bottom of a deep ravine, the flashes of lightning too frequent to make him feel any safer out in the open. but _oh boy_ , felix does stop at some point, just to catch a break or to make himself feel better about cycling in the open.

it didn’t matter, what he did was that he stopped, and it was a bad idea because that night will change his very life.

felix sees light in the distance, a bright light among the trees. it’s weird, because as far as felix knew there weren't any houses in the woods, the locals didn’t really like the woods, but that’s a story for another day.

but the light was strong, and continuous, like a bright light beam that shot out of stadium lights. felix’s intrigued, maybe someone’s car had hit the gutter, maybe they needed help.

so felix gets off his bike, the wind’s a little more bearable now, the rain’s gone softer too. mustering a little courage, felix wanders off the road into the dense undergrowth.

the light’s still there, a little further in, illuminating the surrounding path and felix blocks it off because it’s starting to hurt his eyes. there was no car, no one, just a light, and when he finally gets close enough to see it, felix admits he’s too old for _fantasy crap_ already.

because, surrounded by a two-inch band of extremely bright LED light, was a metal orb looking thing with glyphs carved onto it, wrapped in a single metal band and another groove surrounding it.

felix squats down closer to inspect it, maybe he’s curious, maybe he’s asking for a certain death. he reaches out, hesitating hovering his hands around the orb, and he closes his fingers around them.

nothing at first, then it hits him, a wave of something old, _ancient_ and breathing and moving, somehow navigating its way to him, something in the woods, _something awoken_ . it hits him with a wave of nausea and felix retches whatever is left of his lunch. the orb still clenched tight in his fist, and he sees something in the back of his mind - _an abandoned tower, a door, a metal gate that smells like antiques and rust, a dark shadow looming over him and someone’s voice whispering, whispering…_

felix opens his eyes in cold sweat, he’s still in the woods alright, and when he looks down in his hands, the orb lies peacefully, not glowing, not burning, _nothing._

felix finds it odd, but yellow wood is an odd place anyhow, so he picks himself up, dust the mud off, and starts his way home again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just finished 3 seasons of stranger things in 2 days so i'm getting a writing high from it :') honestly i'm starting to think this yellow wood au is getting a little horror like and maybe it is :)


	7. of 3 a.m. calls & a mystery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there are ocs in the chapter but don't worry they aren't y/ns ;)

**2\. jisung**

when felix lee calls him at 3 a.m in the morning, jisung thinks it’s a prank.

when felix lee calls him _fourteen_ _times_ at 3 a.m in the morning, jisung knows it’s a _code red_.

so of course, as a good friend, he picks up the call after the fifteenth time.

“mhmm, lee… lemme catch a break, it’s three.. o’seven in the morning! for god’s sake… what’s wrong?” jisung mumbles as he flops back onto his pillow with a thud, he’s simply too tired for this.

_“jisung. look, i can’t explain this simply over the phone, i’m sorry i’m calling so late at night,”_ the boy on the other end sounds desparate, jisung can’t tell for real though, must be his dreamy mind. _“there’s something i gotta show you, could you come earlier by my house or something? it’s late day anyway so chan isn’t picking me up.”_

“you called me… just to ask that?” jisung groans and flips up onto his back.

“and yeah man, of course, i will swing by tomorrow morning. if you’d kindly lemme go back to sleep now. have a good night lix…” jisung hangs up and he vaguely remembers dropping his phone onto the rug below before falling into a deep slumber. _so much for a code red._

-

“no _bloody_ way!’ jisung sinks onto the tweed couch in felix lee’s basement, “you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“dude, you really picked something up from yellow woods and brought it home?” jisung throws his hands up in exasperation. “are you looking to curse your family for the next five generations or something? you know what they say about yellow woods right?”

felix rolls his eyes, “i know, dude. that’s why i’m telling you instead of chan or changbin because god knows they will beat my ass. and don’t you dare snitch on me.”

the silver orb, cleaned and polished, but not without signs of wear and tear, lies in the middle of the table peacefully. didn’t seem full of curses to felix actually, but jisung was acting freaked out (despite the fact that felix was the one who had been living in yellow wood since _he was born_ ).

the two boys stare at each other for a while until jisung speaks up. “honestly, if you’re asking me what that is starlord orb looking thingie, i have no idea ok. it looks old and like a ornament that came out of _aliens_.”

felix cringes inwardly, and sulks on the couch while meddling with the orb.

“the fact that you found it glowing was weird enough already,” jisung tried reasoning with his friend, “then it gave you weird visions. does that not scream _CURSED_ to you? _huh_?”

“yeah, i mean it sure is weird,” felix’s expression was scaring jisung now, because everytime felix has an idea, it never turns out well. “maybe that’s why we should find out more.”

jisung groans and leapts from the couch, reaching for the orb in felix’s lap.

“and who do you suggest we ask? _huh?_ _smith steve?_ _mr cho?_ ” jisung falls back onto the couch, mouthful of fruit loops and crunching away loudly.

felix jumps up at this point, “i think… i know who we could ask… “

jisung groans audibly. he honestly _hates_ felix lee.

-

rae joo didn’t look very pleased about felix bringing his yellow woods orb thingie into her house, but she also didn’t scream at him, which was a good sign.

“why’d you think i would know anything? the girl had thrown a question right back at them.

“i don’t know, your dad is the deputy sheriff,” felix shrugs lightheartedly, “maybe you’ve seen or heard things we haven’t.”

rae rolls her eyes a little, she does hear a lot more about the yellow woods than she’s comfortable with, of crouse. but she wasn’t about to tell these little punks without a price.

“well,” rae starts, unchaining her bike from the oak tree beside her driveway, “i could tell you guys what i know, but you gotta promise me some things…”

after a good ten minutes, felix and jisung learns some nasty stuff about yellow woods and rae gets in exchange, a free meal at the jung’s diner, and a promise that they’d keep her updated about what’s going on.

as rae messed around with the orb, she fingers the goove that surrounds the other side of the orb, round the first ring. “there’s a missing piece.” she concludes, and the boys too, stopped wheeling their bikes.

“what?” both jisung and felix exclaims at the same time.

“look.” rae says as she points to the extra groove surrounding the orb, “it seems like another piece is supposeed to fit here. maybe u dropped it somewhere? like when you found it in the woods?”

jisung mumbles an apology as he snatched the orb from rae, fumbling with the orb, he tries to pull the ring apart from the body. but it doesn’t buldge.

“that doesn’t make sense,” jisung’s eyebrows knit in frustration, “wouldn’t the ring be able to move or something?”

rae shrugs, “well, maybe it wouldn’t move because it’s missing a last piece.”

and something lits up in felix’s mind, “god, i knew talking to you was right, rae joo! you’re a genius!”

“so are you in with us on this?” felix gives a genuine smile and rae cocks her head, staring back at him with her warm brown eyes.

“sure. count me in.”

-

they meet outside the gates after school, rae had brought someone unexpected along.

“justin hwang?” jisung smirks, “wow, what a combination we have here. thought we agreed it was just the three of us? _no?_ ”

“justin’s got more intel than me. and trust me, he’s not a snitch.” rae folds her arms. felix makes a _well-what-else-could-i-say_ face at jisung, and he surrenders to the suggestion.

so they concoct a plan, jisung and felix would head back to the patch of woods where felix had picked up the orb, while rae and justin head to the town library and sweep the archives for possible information on their relic.

they met back at felix’s basement about a four hours later, jisung was cleaning the mud off his sneakers and complaining about how difficult it was for him to secure a pair of air jordans in this _god forsaken tiny ass seaside town_. felix rolls his eyes, his friends can be such a drama queen at times.

justin and rae slams a stack of papers on the table.

“we’ve got everything we need on people who disappeared into yellow woods since two cenuries ago, but nothing on a magical glowing metal orb with a metal ring.”

it disturbed jisung missing people cases took up a whole stack of yellowed files and clipped articles, he flips through them and see the pictures of unknown eyes and blurred smiles staring back at him. it’s a strange nostaglia and jisung doesn’t quite enjoy it, so he leaves the flies alone.

“how the hell did you guys even get your hands on these things? did you rob the station?” felix seems quite amazed at the amount of information the sheriff’s kids seem to have put together.

rae cracks a slight smile and puts her hands on her hips, “no. our dads just keeps a lot of old files in our attics, and the library’s got a surprisingly amount of old papers too.”

felix tosses the orb at justin, who catches out of his reflexes. “i don’t think i dropped anything in the woods.”

“i still don’t get how the orb has a part in anything…” rae runs a hand through her hair in frustration and pauses, sitting up straight and going straight for the pile of papers. “some cases did mention glowing objects in the woods though.”

“could be the moonlight hitting metal, or maybe glow in the dark substances.” jisung shrugs it off, “people are always a little weird in this town, aren’t they?”

felix drums his fingers on the table, “well, yeah… people are not the most normal here, but there’s always the fear of the woods, it can’t have stemmed from nothing.”

“that’s why,” rae looks at them with an unreadable expression, “i think the answers lies in the woods.”

-

minho doesn’t like his trips to the lower realm, he doesn’t like interactions with humans. that doesn’t mean he likes staying in the middle either. honestly, minho never figured where he belonged.

“no! you can’t just send me there!” he huffs in frustration, pacing around the chamber. his boots resonating against the rough ground.

“ _you have to_ ,” the voice echos in the chamber. “ _you have to recover the clé before the shadow king gets a whiff of this”_

“why am i always cleaning after your messes? _huh?_ couldn’t you have sent your hunters or something?” less could be said about minho being annoyed, it’s not the first time he had been sent on _operation clean after someone’s mess_.

“ _don’t bargain with me, you well know it your fault for not guarding the hellevator well enough._ ”

minho grunts and looks away, a hand in his hair and a little more fire in his eyes.

this was the last time, the last time that he's doing anything for his father. because by the time minho gets back again, he's going to quit this whole being _crown prince of the middle realm_ thing.

levanhall can go to the _shadows_ for all the shadow king likes. minho is done playing anyone's games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rae joo: felix, jisung's classmate and the deputy sheriff daniel joo’s daughter  
> justin hwang: rae joo’s bestfriend and the sheriff ethan hwang’s son  
> more sneak peeks into minho's character yeah


	8. the prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> minho minho minho & hyunjin

**3\. minho**

minho’s packing his sacks for his trip to the lower realm when a silhouette appears by his doorway, casting a long shadow in the late afternoon sun.

hwang hyunjin, _shapeshifter extraordinaire_ , also the synonym of trouble.

“aren’t you suppose to be on the _other side_?” minho doesn’t even bother to look up. hyunjin leans against the mosaic and picks up an apple from a basket, taking a huge bite.

“i sorta missed levanhall a little, suppose i could make a trip back for a little visit.” hyunjin smiles charmingly, a smile that an girl in levanter would really appreciate, but it doesn’t take any sort of effect on minho.

“cut your crap, hwang.” minho stands up and straps his bow to his back, tightening the holster. “what do you _really_ want?”

hyunjin shrugs and makes himself way too comfortable on minho’s couch, minho decides he doesn’t even want to ask how the shapeshifter sneaked inside the royal chateau again.

“i know who has their hands on the clé.”

they make eye contact, and minho decides within three seconds that perhaps for once, that up to no good pup wasn’t lying.

“talk.”

-

“missing piece?” minho frowns over his last meal at arnit’s tavern, “the compass was whole the last we saw it.”

“yeah, bet the last time you saw the hellevator in _flesh_ was also then.” hyunjin snides, “i have a feeling that something is happening, and we are losing control over it.”

minho watch pedestrian pick at flowers, fresh from the fields of arcadia. women laughing boisterously with a street vendor, who beams at his pool of potential income. children running barefooted, their laughter chiming like silver dimes in the summer breeze. the smell of freshly barbecued meat hangs deliciously in the air.

minho flips his royal drachma dramatically, as hyunjin will observe. the crown prince could be one for theatrics at times.

“you say they are students at the same school?” hyunjin nods and downs the rest of his cider.

“we could blend into their school,” minho ponders the possible repercussions of that suggestion, realizing that he’d be long gone even if people do notice.

“i’m staying at a black rose coven member’s house. her descendant has no idea though, i could possibly get you a room elsewhere.”

“let me make this clear,” minho leans closer to hyunjin’s face, staring straight into his brown pupils flecked with gold. “i don’t why you’re suddenly offering your help, but you better not try anything funny.”

“alright, _alright_. crown prince lee minho - “

and hyunjin suddenly finds a dagger in between his fingers on the table.

_really dramatic._

-

yellow wood wasn’t very different from the last time minho visited, still a mediocre sized town with enough amenities to be considered modern. the lower realm still seemed so _different_ , the air smells more clouded, the stars barely visible. minho is thankful at least by this seaside town, the constellations shine on clear nights.

“where to?” minho turns to the shapeshifter, now back in his human form, catching his breath after spending hours running in his wolf form.

pointing to nowhere particular in the distance, hyunjin starts their trek towards yet another destination. minho sighs and catches up.

they get to the black rose coven place before midnight, hyunjin tells him to shut up and let him do the talking. the receptionist narrowed her eyes at them but hyunjin offers a charming smile to cover, typical hyunjin. if the shapeshifter could seduce anything through he would do it.

the room was bigger than minho expected, simply furnished and plastered with old-fashioned wallpaper. signs of ageing were present, but it was tidy and clean enough. hyunjin leaves him alone in the room, saying that he has a room elsewhere and didn’t need the lodging. minho lets him go, knowing neither of them wouldn't like to share a space for the night.

crossing the borders alters minho’s appearance, his robes and armor were gone and replaced by a simple shirt and leather jacket, along with black jeans. minho doesn’t like being in the lower realm, but it’s more freedom than he had the middle, so he’ll take that gratefully.

tire out by a day of travelling, minho’s gone as soon as his head hits the pillow. but that doesn’t mean he has a peaceful night.

_it’s dark out around him. minho can’t see a thing, he could faintly smell the grass and trees, hear the breeze rippling across water. the air wraps around him like a blanket, not a cozy one though. it is damp and chilly. and minho knows exactly where this is going._

_minho can see his footsteps. where they land and where they are going, but he can’t quite control them. it scares him, it always did, when he loses control over everything._

_he can see the shadows, they are after him, gnawing at his heels and taunting him in the trees. they play hide and seek, whispering in his ears the awful secrets he wish he didn’t knew. minho trips over a branch, the shadows are closing in._

_but he sees a light in the distance, he always do. at the furthest point on the horizon, there is always a light waiting for him. minho knows it’s a ray of hope, of whatever possibility that these dreams will never catch up to him._

_but it goes differently this time round, he hears a voice_

_“minho-hyung!”_

_hyung? that’s a human term, a term minho is not accustomed to._

_“hyung! just hold on to my hand, please!”_

_is this still a dream? minho doesn’t know anymore, the boy gets closer and so do the shadows. it’s now or never, minho scrambles up and leaps. he jumps over the shadows’ misty tendrils of darkness, over the endless void in his mind that he dreads. and the light engulfs him._

minho wakes up instantly, panting and gasping for cold air that hits his lungs like sweet cordial on foggy mornings.

the sun’s out, filtering through linen curtains and hitting minho’s eyes. he feels the heat of the sun, the same sun that shines through the middle realm as well.

no light hits the miroh, whatever light there is in that place, its a fragment of what exists in the middle and lower realms.

minho’s thoughts suddenly turn to his dream again, the boy in the light, the way that he is obviously a human. and why, _just why_ would he be minho’s saviour in a dream that had always ended the same way. minho thrashing and crying out, drowning in the shadows, the realms on fire, miroh’s dark moon engulfing the sun.

it puzzled minho, and it is going to until he has his answers, but for now, minho will just focus on recovering the clé.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feels like i'm making everyone super ooc :') n everything sounds so dark but i promise it will get better,, and worse,,,  
> anw if u want pls hmu on twt @raewxi life's rly boring during quarantine :(


	9. maple syrup & pancakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pushing for my minho and hyunjin duo agenda

**4\. hyunjin**

hyunjin has been trying to keep a low profile since he moved into yellow wood, by accident, to say the least. even though anyone senior enough from the black rose coven would still recognise him, hyunjin is pleasantly surprised that no one has given him trouble as of yet.

the granny from the cottage hasn’t said much about hyunjin’s scars, or his attempts to shapeshift in her house in order to finally get a hold on his powers. so far he hasn’t made a mess of anything so he’s thankful.

the house next door caught hyunjin’s attention since the day he arrived. someone is definitely a black rose member there, hyunjin could smell the roses before he even gets to the bungalow. there’s an insignificant looking carving on the door plate, a small rose by the side of the house number. but it is enough for hyunjin to know that someone in that house is a witch.

hyunjin could use some mystic help, it wasn’t going to be easy for him and minho to go around town searching for a magical orb compass without invoking suspicion. _how very fun._ hyunjin skips breakfast in the bang household, politely excusing himself after drinking some milk. he sets out for the scanty looking _roover’s motel_ at the edge of yellow wood.

_roover’s motel_ must at least be a few hundreds years old. it looked the case with it’s pale grey coating and crumbling red roof, the pool reflected a slimy green light off the algae growing at the bottom. hyunjin sees minho already standing out back in the yard, kicking peddles along the pavement. the prince looks troubled, raising a hand to block out the hues of yellow hitting his face.

“mornin’!” hyunjin shouts brightly and minho scowls at his voice. as much as minho was accepting of shadow creatures, hyunjin’s reputation precedes whatever misconceptions people have of him. 

he’s loud, obnoxious even, famous for his antics in robbing royalty by seducing them with his beauty. he takes on dirty work for anyone within the middle realm. even in levanhall, the elvish capital, hyunjin could easily disarm their guards and rob their convoys. the only reason why minho hasn’t arrested him yet is because he owes hyunjin one. a good, _big_ one actually.

a few years back during the annual wind festivals, a rival royalty had planned to have the crown prince assassinated. hyunjin happened to in the vicinity and saved minho, quite coincidentally. ever since then minho had been more lax about the multitude of laws hyunjin have broken since he arrived in levanhall.

that was until hyunjin found himself being robbed and thrown out of the middle realm by unknown assailants. he woke up in yellow wood, transformed into a fox form and then proceed to be rescued by a human. it’s a horrifying parallel story to his fall from the miroh, the shadow king would have his ass busted if hyunjin ever stepped foot into miroh again.

as if hyunjin was ever go back to that hell of a shithole.

anyway hyunjin decides since yellow wood is offering him the solace and an escape from his vigilante life, he might as well take up the chance to rest peacefully. the black rose coven knows he’s there and he doubts that they will try to start trouble with him. however, a question still lingers at the back of hyunjin’s mind: _who robbed him? and who took the clé from the elves’ possession?_

hyunjin has no problems helping minho recover the royal treasure and the very core of the middle realm. _the clé_ , a palm-sized orb with two orbiting rings of metal, the mechanism that will lead one to the hellevator and unlock the portal. it could be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands, hyunjin knows that all too well.

minho is still staring across the water, “yellow wood is smaller than levanhall. yet it will not be easy for us to track down the cle.”

“well, i have a _tasty_ proposition.” hyunjin smirks and thumbs his medallion playfully, the gold-like disk reflecting rays off the morning sunrise and dancing across the water, casting beams onto the bottom of the pool.

-

the black rose coven had a tea shop downtown, hyunjin was sure roseanne had mentioned it to him once. it does take a while for the duo to figure where it was, the coven wouldn’t just freely give out their location. they do get there by noonshine, the sun’s directly over their head and hyunjin would give anything to be back at the bang’s place in the shade of the cooling air systems humans had.

minho doesn’t seem particularly affected. _of course he isn’t_ , hyunjin rolls his eyes, _fuckin’ elves and their cool magic_.

the shop was small and secluded, by the far end of town where hyunjin hasn’t much explored. it smelled like herbs and flowers and _magic_ , and hyunjin’s shadow bloodline despises that, he tells himself that after those years spend in levanhall, he really should be used to the fiery stench of magic.

there are shelves around the store, which was small, despite it’s dark wood front that seemed quite majestic on its own, intricate carvings pooled by the windowsill and round the sign.

“hello?” minho starts out first. there’s a turn of locks and suddenly the duo find themselves facing a boy with a youthful face.

remember what hyunjin hates the most about magic? it smells like smothering smoke and hyunjin always feels suffocated around magic users. magical species are a different story, and even though minho carries magic as well, he smells like all elves do - _dewy mornings and grass and wildflowers and a musky scent hyunjin can’t really decipher_.

the boy glances at them nervously, but he masks it by calmly speaking, “how can i help you?”

it must be the boy, hyunjin decides, he smells like warm maple syrup atop freshly cooked pancakes, specially pancakes at _alberta’s tavern_ in levanhall. hyunjin swears on _white witch_ that they have the best pancakes in all the realms.

“i’m minho and that is hyunjin. go tell whoever is in charge that we would like to see them.” minho nods towards the backdoor leading to the den, a mahogany old-styled thing that probably hides some curious and fascinating witch mechanism.

the boy smiles at the message, hyunjin can’t decide if he’s being friendly or there’s more. “i’m in charge for today. everyone else isn’t here, you can talk to me if you want to.”

“i’m seungmin,” the boys adds after a few moments of silence, “i’m a trained witch.” the tip of his ears had turned slightly red from the tension. hyunjin knows minho is weighing the situation, and he really had no rights in butting in. so he nods politely at the boy, seungmin.

“do you know about the clé?” minho finally breaks the tense silence. seungmin’s eyes had widen and he stares at the duo as if they were from a different dimension, which was partially true, as far as hyunjin knew. the middle realm was indeed a different dimension as compared to earth, but that was complicated magical history for another day.

“uh, the clé’s the compass that leads to hellevator and also unlocks it.” seungmin’s expression had turned wary. “why are you asking about it?”

“ _i’m prince lee know of levanhall,_ ” minho had suddenly switched to elvish, hyunjin rolls his eyes again. the kid may be a trained witch, but he wouldn’t necessary speak the ancient tongue. “ _he’s hyunjin, the shapeshifter that defected from the miroh._ ”

_seriously_ , minho had to introduce that way. if hyunjin could produce an eyeroll for every single person who annoys him, his pupils would be stuck facing up forever.

seungmin takes obviously a while to translate minho’s words in his puny human brain, hyunjin is getting impatient. searching for the clé was a priority, not chit-chatting with a barely matured witch.

but obviously minho had gotten somewhere by talking in elvish, because seungmin had looked less bothered by the two strangers. “uh, um, so your highness? how could i possibly help?”

“i need you to track something down.” finally, hyunjin heaves a huge sigh, minho gets back on track with their plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hyunjin is very much inspired by another character i really love, idk if anyone could tell who it is :')


	10. a discovery at rosa's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a chapter of me bullshitting about magic

**5\. seungmin**

seungmin wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he offered to look after _rosa’s_ , his mum was busy sending off a new batch of bluebells to the city. everyone else older had midterm season and was currently suffering through sea of reports and assignments. so of course the job landed on seungmin’s shoulders.

what he _did not_ expect was for two strangers from the middle realm to walk in on his first day at _rosa’s_ , a twist of events because other than diplomatic updates they rarely received guests from levanhall, much less the crown prince himself.

the shapeshifter he brought along would pass perfectly as human if he didn’t smell so much like levanhall’s cedars and cherry. seungmin made eye contact with the metamorph and at once knew why he was so popular among the royals in levanhall despite his terrible manners of robbing them.

narrow but intelligent umber eyes, long vulpine nose and rosy, sensual lips. his glossy ebony hair trailing around his neck, rustled slightly by the wind. the mole under his right eye was added a melancholic look to his face. seungmin might be over-describing at this point, but there was no denying that the shapeshifter was _gorgeous_.

seungmin gulps nervously as the elf prince’s eyes dug into his. despite popular culture’s portrayals, elves do not have pointy ears or long silvery hair, however, what they do have are soul-boring eyes flecked with gold and a pale complexion to rival the nordics.

“i need you to track something down.”

seungmin groans inwardly at that, if he fails at whatever magical tasks he was suppose to execute again, his ears were going to get talked off by nonna.

“alright.” seungmin clasps his hands together and racks his brains to the steps of scrying. scrying an object is slightly different from a person, you could take anything belonging to the person, using it as an anchor and entree into the person’s aura. but for an object, it would require a clear picture of how the object looks like.

seungmin knows there’s probably a middle realm handbook somewhere that could have a good sketch of the clé. realizing he’s left his guests standing awkwardly in the lobby, seungmin chastises himself for panicking and ushers them into the back room.

_rosa’s_ is a cover for the black rose coven to run their magical operations and receive guests from various places, the backdoor would lead down to a underground rotunda where the witches store their herbs and knick-knacks. 

it was also their meeting place, the black rose coven was a big coven after all, their members do not only reside in yellow wood, but also across the seas.

the two levanhall residents had entered with caution and was constantly on guard even after seungmin assured they were along and everyone was out running daily operations or dealing with magical issues.

  
  


hyunjin in particular, was staring at a specimen of fae wings by the stairs. “where did the coven get that?” seungmin shrugs in response, those specimens were probably from centuries ago. as magical as witches are, they are not immortal, even though they do tend to live a slightly longer lifespan as compared to the full mortals.

the curious collections of black rose coven would cause a ruse if mortals found out about their existence. that is why they have maintained covet operations for centuries, following strict regulations about where and how they conduct their magic.

yellow wood was an ideal location, a seaside town nestling against mountains, also close to a portal leading to the middle realm. seungmin’s witch ancestors had long domesticated the area before mortals arrived.

seungmin grabs an old account from the book shelves as well as parchment and a basin of water, a few herbs for the ritual.

“tea for you two?” of course, seungmin mustn't forget about his guests. if nonna or aunt mijin found out seungmin had mistreated guests from middle realm… seungmin shudders at the thought of it.

“sure, thank you.” the prince and his companion have settled down, seungmin hurriedly pours them peppermint tea.

now, all seungmin has to do is successfully pull off a scry, a simple ritual that he’s probably been training for since he was a toddler. he finds the page where records of the clé together with the detailed sketch of it was, lighting the ritualistic candles and asking the two to not move around too much. out of the corner of his eyes, seungmin spots hyunjin staring closely at his movements. _probably just curiosity_ , seungmin passes it off, _he’s probably never seen a human witch_.

the basin of water was to act as a screen to project whatever seungmin scrys. seungmin breathes in deeply and preps himself, pulling his magic from the pit of his stomach and further, _further_ beyond, an endless vault of pure magic that overflows like rushing water. he scatters the herbs across the water skillfully, feeling the magic dance across his fingertips, begging to be released.

seungmin soaks his hand into the water and focuses his mind on the image of the clé, reaching deeper for the peace and calm that came with his magic, intensely buzzing in his chest now. seungmin opens his eyes when he knows he should, and expectantly faces a image rippling across the water.

“look.” he tells the duo, and the three turn to face the water. seungmin frowns though, because right in the basin, he sees his friend, a small brunette with pixie-like features, palming the clé like it was a child’s toy.

“wait…” seungmin’s mind is in a whir now, “i know where exactly the clé is…”

minho and hyunjin are taken aback by that bit of information. “you do?” hyunjin squints his eyes and seungmin nods firmly. even though confusing the situation was, seungmin was sure he scryed felix lee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh, young love  
> hmu at @raewxi on twt i wld absolutely love to interact w more stays :')


	11. when worlds collide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spot the reference :)

**6\. changbin**

felix turns up at his door in the afternoon unannounced, ranting about how he’s being chased down by _two_ _tall, handsome dudes that he has never seen in town_. changbin has so many questions in his mind but he keeps his mouth shut as he ushers felix into the house.

“what the hell did you do? did you mess with the matthew's gang again?” changbin can’t help but whack felix’s head, the latter rubs his head sorrily and grumbles.

“i don’t know.” felix waves his hands around fake crying. “he seems to be after something… oh for god’s sake.” changbin has zero clues what felix was going on about, the kid flops onto changbin’s bed and shoots up a moment later.

“he’s after the orb!” _what orb?_ changbin winces as felix continuously claps him on the shoulders, _the fuck would some stranger be after an orb this isn’t a teen fantasy movie._

felix dramatically fishes something out of his jeans pocket, it’s a superball size orb with a metal ring hugging around it. changbin has never seen anything like it, the glyphs carved around it are too exotic to be deciphered.

“felix where the hell did you find that thing?” changbin questions his friend as felix dragged him down the stairs and back into the living room. 

“you won’t believe me if i told you.” felix’s expression looked determined to keep the orb away from the stranger’s grasp, changbin is still confused. felix continues pushing them out through the front door, creeping against the porch and seemingly on the lookout for his pursuer.

“seungmin was with them too.” felix shakes his head, “it doesn’t make sense. i really should talk to seungminnie.”

changbin resists his urge to bump felix’s noggin’ seriously, the kid was making as little sense as a cow barking. “felix!” changbin shakes and stares into felix’s alert eyes.

“geez, okay bin, i’ll tell you on the way to _rosa’s_. it’s quite a long story anyway…” felix carefully treads his way to his bicycle fallen on changbin’s driveway. there was no sign of anyone around, but felix was taking extra caution.

changbin learns that felix picked up the orb in yellow woods (“ _what the hell were you thinking! you fully well know what people say about the woods!”_ ), and had been investigating it’s origins until these _handsome strangers_ showed up at the school with seungmin’s help and demanded felix return them something called the clé.

now, the townsfolk are fully aware that things beyond their concept of normal happened in yellow woods, they feared and respect the woods, doing their best to steer clear of it. but felix couldn’t help but fulfill the calling that asks him to find out the truth behind the orb, and so he enlisted help from jisung and the sheriff’s kids ( _“why am i not surprised that jisung is with you on this…and you seriously asked rae and justin for help?!” "well, they volunteered! as tributes!"_ )

felix had texted jisung to meet them at _rosa’s_ , it’s their best bet to finding the strangers as well as interrogate seungmin as to why he’s helping them instead of his own friends.

the three drop off at _rosa’s_ a little past three, and changbin greets jisung with a bump on his noddle just as he had very much promised. “you guys are always up to no good when chan and i are busy.” felix grimaces and appeases his older friend with an apologetic smile.

_rosa’s_ was empty, a common sight, felix can’t figure out for the love of his life why the kims would leave their shop empty so often. but it was true yellow wood was quite safe ‘cept for the woods… 

“minnie?” felix calls out carefully, still chary and acting on edge. the strangers were just unexpected, but they didn’t very much threaten felix in any harmful way. there was just a foreign aura they carried that threw felix off, that’s for sure. they didn’t seem like locals or those who had returned from the city, neither did they seem like urban dwellers.

seungmin pokes his head out from the backdoor, looking as sheepish as he had been when they exchanged in the morning. “‘m sorry…” he finally slips out of the door, eyes downcast. felix couldn’t stay mad at his friend, after all he just wants to figure out the truth and seungmin might just have the answer to that.

“where are those two scary thugs?” jisung makes for the backdoor, “are they back in there? seungmin please, just tell us what’s going on.” seungmin is visibly placed in a difficult spot.

“yeah, please don’t pick fights here though. aunt mijin will slaughter me…” seungmin hurriedly opens the door for them, it was a flight of stairs the curved downwards, leading to a large circular room. felix spots the two strangers sitting in the middle of the room, both looking unbothered and preoccupied by themselves. felix is a little annoyed, just less than an hour ago they had appeared outside his school and perhaps terrorized him a little with their burst of questioning.

“who are you?” felix musters half of his courage and shouts across the room, stopping abruptly and making jisung bump into him. changbin stares at him with an unreadable expression, a gentle touch to the arm would calm felix down normally.

the two strangers turns toward them and stares unblinkingly, the one with raven hair nudges the one wearing a leather jacket, an amused expression plastered to his face. it is obvious that the leather clad one has more authority between the two, are they brothers? _partners? friends? colleagues?_ felix couldn’t tell even as he narrowed his eyes perplexingly.

“i’m minho and that’s hyunjin. we’re just here to recover the clé, we believe you have it in possession. if you would just kindly hand it over, we will just leave.” seungmin facepalms almost audibly, jisung looks almost as confused as ever and changbin is still frozen in place.

felix shakes his head, “what is this clé? are you referring to the orb?” digging his pockets and producing the orb, minho’s eyes widen and hyunjin’s mouth drops a little, but he regains his composure almost immediately.

“was it already like this when you found it?” minho takes a few steps closer, taking the orb from felix who nods in response.

“it’s broken…” hyunjin’s eyebrows knit together in a frown, he and minho exchanges a knowing look.

“seungmin,” he calls out to the younger boy still standing awkwardly by the stairway, “you might want to pour some hot for your friends… we have a long story to tell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> counting down the days til chan finally finds out about what kind of shit the kids has been up to :D


	12. a dark, dark bedtime story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i bullshit a fantasy setting

_**7\. jisung** _

_ “it must be centuries ago, a time before even i was born. the daemons and elves and other creatures lived peacefully alongside each other. then humans, mistakenly, discovered our existence. of course, this was not allowed.” _

_ “we tried to retreat into hiding, for humans feared us and will not stop at eliminating our kind to restore their own undaunted status. the daemons were far more offended than the move, they feel that it is their right to remain in this world.” _

_ “the elves and faeries agreed to open up another realm with our powers, and we divided the land fairly among other fair creatures as well. these creatures meant no harm and only long for peace and a safe haven to call home.” _

_ “but the daemons, they waged wars and drove fear into the humankind. we could no longer sit back and watch as the world burned in flames. my forefathers broke the pact between elves and daemons and joined hands with human. together we drove back the shadow king and his army of daemons in a trap, another dimension that we wove with magic. and with the fae’s help, we sealed the place.” _

_ “of course, the trap weakened with time. as centuries go by daemons have been able to slip out and cause chaos, but all was resolved. there’s however, an entrance and exit to the daemon’s realm. it was a portal, we kept it hidden from view with charms and spells. but left a way to find it. that’s what the clé is for, it is the compass and key to unlocking the hellevator. aptly named, it leads to hell, to miroh, where the shadow king and his daemons reside.” _

“that’s nuts!” jisung can’t help but exclaim when the outsiders had came to a climax of their story, changbin shoots him a dirty look for interrupting the guests but jisung pays no care.

the six of them had sat down in  _ rosa’s _ basement and listened to the tales of two strange dudes whom they’ve never met before in their entire life, not knowing if they were lunatics fresh from the asylum or truly other-worldly creatures as they claim to be.

for an elf, minho definitely defies the stereotypes: there’s no flowing silvery hair nor pointy ears, no speaking in shakespearean english or wearing gowns and cloaks. although at one point minho does pull a set of bow and arrows out of nowhere and startled the group. the most curious of all would be his eyes, which seemed to glint gold under light, as if gold flakes had been sprinkled across his pupils.

even then jisung could not help but admit that minho was  _ dreamy _ , he’s well built and carries himself regally, there was something innately enchanting about the prince. jisung couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but it was there.

his companion, on the other hand, was insufferably loud and talks his mouth off when given the chance. what’s more  _ disgusting _ to jisung was the fact that seungmin looked like he was going to sell his soul to the devil for the boy.  _ yeah sure _ , jisung would bury deep his admitting that hyunjin was on a surface level, physically attractive. he excluded a ravishing aura and would knock out girls and guys alike.

so far, minho has clarified about the existence of two more dimensions, the one he belongs to would be accessible from yellow wood. and certain rip-points in the woods would also lead to the third dimension - the  _ miroh _ . all shady sounding and definitely not a place jisung wants to go field tripping at.

“so earth, is the lower realm, it’s between the miroh and the middle realm. and the middle realm does not just consist of levanhall, it’s much more vast than just that. some parts of it belongs to various species of fair creatures,” minho traces a map on the table, with nothing but his fingers, which leaves a trail of cool elf dust. the others watch with mouth agape, jisung could barely slurp back his drool before it landed on  _ rosa’s _ ancient desk.

“in the south lies levanhall, my hometown.” minho explains as the friends stared intensely at his fingertips. “in the north are the faeries, in the city of eden. to the west are some covens, seungmin would probably know them better than me.” minho pauses and everyone takes a glance at seungmin, who’s busy sipping on his chocolate milk.

“last but not least the unconquered lands are in the east, but it’s where you will find certain creatures…” minho leaves it at that and they don’t bother prodding, “it’s also closest to the miroh.”

hyunjin butts in at this point, “since the clé is broken we can’t located where the portal is. and this could be dangerous since the elves and faeries normally would take turns watching over the portal. the shadow king could take advantage of this and break out from miroh” 

the friends exchange a look. it didn’t sound like their newfound friends were deceiving them, because that would take a whole lot of coordination and magic stunts to pull a set of weapons out of thin air and manipulate holograms on the table

-

at the end of their storytelling session jisung had learnt three things: a) the woods were  _ freakin’ _ dangerous because how unstable the portal is, b) they really should tell chan about their escapades, c) minho is  _ hot _ , like sriracha sauce  _ hot _ .

“so where do we go from here?” felix asks the ultimate question, now that they know that the clé was truly missing a piece they would have to find a way to restore it.

“we should talk to nonna,” minho is looking straight at seungmin, who doesn’t flinch but smiles sheepishly. 

“nonna? as in chan’s grandma?” felix’s puzzled and nudges changbin slightly, who nods in return. the boys all knew that chan affectionately calls his grandma nonna, and everyone else followed as well.

“i guess the grandson doesn’t know as well, his grandmother is a senior witch at black rose coven.” hyunjin helpfully explains, “seungmin here is part of that coven as well. a large part of this town’s population are mystical, they just hide well.”

seungmin shrugs in silent agreement, as if his friend’s sudden discovery about him being a witch and having awesome magical powers was something damn normal. felix looked like he was about to be sick from the overwhelming surge of information, his friend pluck a bottle of water from his backpack and gulped down hurriedly. this resulted in him choking by the third gulp, and jisung has to pat his back vigorously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> will chan finally get to know about the shit that goes down when he isn't around? stay tuned ;)


	13. relevations & chocolate chip cookies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chan is finally finding out :) no more counting down :)

_**8\. chan** _

chan was in the garden helping nonna with her flowers when there’s a thunderous knock at his gate, a bunch of rambunctious voices hollering in hushed whispers. _the gang_. chan knows it’s probably his friends, what he did not expect was his new tenant and a complete stranger with a gloomy expression and an indignity to be hanging around his annoying friends.

“hey hyunjin!” chan greets his tenant with a friendly grin, “i see you’ve found new friends.” the boy smiles a little offhandedly, pushing his lips in a glib smile.

“lix! sung! bin! minnie?” chan laughs, “i’ll go get you guys some food? drinks? just make yourself comfy on the couch!”

chan does catch a stranger among familiar faces who was looking at him weirdly, there a moment of deja vu but chan can't seem to fathom why. he tells nonna his friends are here and she shoos him off after telling him that the cookies are in the old spot in the cupboard. he makes cool salty lemonade for everyone and puts out the cookies neatly on a ceramic dish.

when he returns to the living room it is in an awkward but comforting quietness, no one’s talking and felix is staring at something in his hands. berry is nestling beneath hyunjin’s feet like he’s his new best friend. chan feels the tension as he sets the snacks down and asks them to dig in.

“so…” chan begins with a slight hesitation, “what took you guys here?”

“did you know your grandmother was a witch?” hyunjin is munching loudly on a cookie and slurping on his lemonade rudely when he drops a bomb. chan is visibly shocked for a second or two before he asks hyunjin to repeat himself.

“i said, did. you. know. your. grandmother. is. a. witch?” hyunjin gives every word a small pause, as if no one could understand his basic sentence. felix and jisung are more preoccupied at staring at their cookies now more than ever, changbin is fiddling with his phone and the stranger is still staring at chan like a mannequin.

“uh, guys,” chan laughs weakly, “do we hear this guy? just what kind of crack is he on?” no one replies. surprisingly, the stranger is the one to break the tension.

“we’ve met, haven’t we?” the stranger’s tone is casual and it freaks chan a little, because here he is sitting in his living room looking absolutely serious while his new tenant just accused chan’s grandmother of being a witch, a sin which will reward a stake in the medieval eras.

“what?” chan jumps from his seat. “hey guys, why is everyone acting so weirdly today? jisung, please don’t tell me you engaged your other friends to pull another prank on me… it’s kind of freakin me…”

“no, we’re serious.” unable to bear the ongoing ridiculous discussion, felix finally speaks out. he leans back fully in the couch with a _sorry to break it to you this way_ expression. chan throws up his hands in exasperation. _just what were the bros pulling?_

the stranger finally had the decency to introduce himself. “i’m minho, the elven crown prince of levanhall.” chan really couldn’t hold back his laughter as he burst into a nervous fit. _what funny mushrooms have yellow wood been growing?_

when he turns to his own group of friends, chan’s a little alarmed that they all seemed perfectly fine with the absurd notion.

jisung’s a little impatient at this point, he huffs in exasperation at the situation. “just do the trick man, chan’s a little dumb at times.”

this statement seems to be directed at minho, who suddenly raise an outstretch handto chan’s head. the next two moments of oblivion terrified chan, the schrodinger's cat of whether: _a) this was a whole prank and they are about to terrorize chan, b) they were in fact, serious, which would lead to way more questions._

turns out chan would get his answers.

minho’s hand felt warm on his forehead, and he feel tendrils of something cool and tingly reach far into his mind. chan has the overwhelming feeling to close his eyes, and he did.

_he sees himself, a younger self actually. he’s standing timidly by the living room stairs, nonna is talking to a man clad in a biege chemise, a void-black suit jacket fitted snuggly around his shoulders, a bolo tie inlaid with rubies on his chest. the man smiles cordially at chan and bades him over, opening his palm to reveal a small glittery piece of silver. little chan musters his courage and takes the gift from the stranger, but as soon as the silver touched chan’s fingers, it explodes into tiny fireworks, they streak pure silver and disappear. child chan breaks into a shit-eating grin. the man seemed so familiar, he smelt silvery, if that’s even possible, coated with a flowery scent._

_the man is minho. he looks the same, same doe eyes flecked with gold, same handsome nose and feline like lips that curled slightly at corners, but nonna was a decade younger that time. her hair was streaked with gray, but not as much as they did now. she comes back with a ornate wooden box and the man receives it carefully, nodding in respect. he leaves, with another man and woman accompanying him. little chan rushes forward to wave goodbye. as the man left, the flowers around the porch bloomed magnificently in their hues of magenta and crimson._

it’s all come back to chan, hitting him in the guts like a warm shot, the nostalgic feeling of sudden reminders settle in. “you’re… you’re the man that came to our house…” chan mumbles incoherently at minho, who nods his head.

“you’re not human, are you?” chan’s narrowed eyes fixated on the man before him, who haven’t seem to age a day since chan last saw him.

“no.” minho’s smile reaches his eyes and they curved into pretty crescents. chan figures that it was going to be a long summer afternoon.

-

he gets bits and pieces of the story from his friends, but they are such terrible storytellers, chan had to put two and two to get the full picture.

“we got chased down by them at school!” 

“they were yelling about some clé? _clé?_ that’s not even english…” 

“anyway, the thing is we freaked out and split up. felix went to find changbin and i hid at home.”

“so we met up at _rosa’s_? seungmin’s family’s tea place, you know?” 

“then we found out seungmin was with them. i mean like we also saw seungmin with them at school…?” 

“but we talked and yeah, we found out they were from another dimension or something? they’re fighting some bad stuff and that orb thingie is basically the key to keeping the monsters out.”

“wait no,” chan shakes his head from the disorientating voices, “how did you even get your hands on this?” felix scratches the back of his head awkwardly.

“i picked it up in yellow wood…”

“ _you what?!_ ” chan sighs again, “you know what, never mind. this isn’t the weirdest part of this whole thing.”

minho lets chan have his moment to collect himself before speaking up, “i should greet your grandmother.”

“sure,” he still feels a little jittery around the elf, whom he knew was benignant. but the fact that it was all so surreal and chan still can’t wrap his mind around the fact that this man was more than a magician has got to him. “she’s in the backyard. the backdoor’s in the kitchen.”

“so hyunjin. mind explaining why your seemingly best friends with minho?” seungmin finally pips in after being silent for the whole time. “you haven’t told us why you’re chan’s tenant and somehow still associated with minho.”

hyunjin chuckles, taking another swig of his lemonade. “chan should know the answer.” there was amusement in his voice and a mischievous light in his eyes.

chan racks his mind, he had found the fox pup a day before hyunjin turned up in his house… _it couldn’t be…?_

“you’re the fox?” chan knows his question was a rhetorical one, but hyunjin affirms it by turning into a fox right there and then, on his couch. 

the pup prances around it circle and yaps at jisung’s feet. jisung almost raised a fist at it, but catches chan’s rising eyebrow and instead pouts with annoyance. felix and changbin widened their eyes for a second time before hyunjin morphs horrifying back into his human form.

“damn,” seungmin says after a whole five seconds of silence, “that’s the the coolest yet most disgusting thing i’ve ever seen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me how u guys feel about the story so far !!! i'd love to hear your thoughts !! <3


	14. big cats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damnnn skz's teaser for go生 was amazing!!! i can't wait for the actual cb :') silver felix and red minho slayin' and hyunjin with a little ponytail and jeongin looking all grown up and chan with black hair and changbin + jisung in oriental style clothing and seungmin... why is seungmin alone cfkisdhdifkjsk

_**9\. felix** _

after all the commotion, felix still feels picking up the clé from yellow woods from a  _ great _ idea, despite how dumb it actually would sound to others. he tells chan how he got rae and justin to pull out files from the archives in relation to the rumours surrounding yellow wood.

“at least we can protect everyone around us.” he had concluded that way. it wasn’t just about his selfish curiosity anymore. if what minho said was true, their lives at that very moment could actually be threatened. 

despite how ridiculous the whole thing sounded, felix now found the plausible explanation for how seungmin’s flu tea mixes worked so wondrously.  _ it can’t be that the tea leaves itself were so good, could it? _

if seungmin was a witch and so was chan’s grandmother, it would also explain how insanely popular the cookies were. ever since the sheriffs both claim the cookies helped them nab multiple petty robbers, the best one was still when seungmin got top in the level and told everyone he ate a cookie before he went in for the exams - sales for the cookies in the patisserie skyrocketed and they had to request for nonna to make more.

felix is a little terrified by the amazement of such discoveries, just much did they not know about the place they reside in. it sort of freaked him out that there could be more than just humans around him. as superstitious as yellow wood residents were, no one would’ve expected such diversity on a multiverse spectrum. felix felt like he was stuck in the  _ marvel cinematic universe _ , if anything. a sort of superhero dream realized.

he sips quietly on his milk and watch the others adapt to the new arrangement. the apparent elf minho was still talking to nonna, chan’s off with him as well. changbin was scrolling through his phone as a cover for freaking out after hyunjin morphs into a fox in front of them, morphing wasn’t a really pretty sight. 

it differed from cgi scenes in movies where the person smoothly transitioned into one form to another. if felix could correct their mistakes, he would let them know they missed out the part on contorted bones, unsightly stretched muscle and the discolouration of joints, sinews all shifting in contorted shapes. hyunjin claims it does not hurt him in the slightest bit, but they were still a _little_ disturbed.

jisung’s toying around with berry, but mostly just stoning and most likely overthinking, felix knew his friend a little too well. seungmin had left a while earlier, saying he would have to get back to the store  _ ‘before aunt mijin busts my ass for the third time this week.’ _

felix was sitting on the couch thinking about how his life would be changed after this when minho and chan came back in with smiles on the faces, they were discussing something hushedly. when chan finally lock eyes with felix across the room, he gives him a reassuring smile and felix feels the tip of his ears grow warm.

he nudges changbin to leave a space for chan on the crowded couch, hyunjin the shapeshifter is already dozing off in the love seat. minho and chan catches their attention as the former clears his throat.

“guys,” chan looked a little wild and felix was getting fearful because chan never has great idea when he look like this. “let’s go interdimensional travelling.”

jisung stopped petting berry for a good two seconds, mouth agape. berry yelps and breaks the silence.

“interdimensional travelling?” jisung splutters, “this ain’t a marvel movie buddy.”

minho is puzzled at the pop reference and hyunjin’s rubbing his eyes from his nap. felix is so nervous he doesn’t realise he’s gripping tightly onto the tail of changbin’s jacket, which he quickly lets go without anyone pointing an eyebrow in his direction.

-

“so the plan is just to walk casually into the woods and for minho to summon his mounts, which are three demonic cats that can transform into bigger cats?” jisung shakes his head, “that’s  _ bloody _ insane. sounds like a great plan!” felix groans, it is so expected of jisung to act like an excited five year old about this. 

minho is explaining how he could summon sooni, doongi and dori. “you’re a prince and that’s what you name your demonic pets?” jisung complains loudly, minho shoots him a stinky look. felix can’t believe the two have been bickering over the smallest of things since they met. “they are not demonic!” minho practically growls.

“they are sacred forest spirits that the elves tamed.” minho glares at jisung, who holds up the strong eye contact. chan has this  _ i want to die before han jisung gets into more trouble  _ expression. “each of them can take at least three passengers. dori is a snow leopard, sooni is is black panther and doongi is a white tiger.”

“i will take doongi. hyunjin knows a shortcut that will take us straight to levanhall stealthily, it’s better for us to stay covet.” minho straightens his leather jacket, “for now i suggest you eat up. it’s going to be quite a ride.”

jisung has a complicated look in his eyes, as felix will observe. he knows his friend is a little smitten by the noble looking elf, who’s attitude had came off as aloof and distant. and as jisung’s personality went, he clashes with anyone who’s not as hotheaded as he is.

“wait,” felix suddenly remembers, “our families would be wondering why we are missing though. let’s call in and say we’ve gone to the little cabin by the beach again.” changbin and jisung agrees, they fill seungmin in on their plan.

**_minnie_ **

_ y’all are nuts _

**_sungshine_ **

_ yeah sorry i have two _

**_minnie_ **

_ han jisung idc you’re older by 8 days you should stfu _

-

the gang had packed some necessities for the trip before they snuck to the yellow wood at midnight, their rusty old bikes crunching away in the dark. they had to teach the prince how to ride on, but apparently he was a fast learner so all was fine. hyunjin was definitely more used to the mortal world than the elf was.

they zip past the dark shadows of the woods to a clearing where hyunjin had told would them reach levanhall by the darkest hour, all ominous sounding when hyunjin had said it with a mad grin. felix was so sure that it wasn’t safe, but they had no choice but to trust him,

the clé weighed a little heavier than usual in felix’s pocket. he had talked to minho about it, the elf believes that its mechanism was broken when it entered the mortal world, bringing it back to the middle realm should fix it just fine. however, this was all an assumption.

assuming everything worked and whoever minho had worried over finding them with the clé was not aware of their plan, the gang would be back in yellow wood by the next day, as promised by hyunjin. minho was standing in the clearing with hyunjin, and felix swore one moment he was looking and the next there were three big cats.

_ big cats _ . each almost the size of an suv, bowing down at minho who pets their head with a gentle smile plastered to his face. felix sees jisung shiver a little and make a face at the cats. felix knows jisung isn’t a huge fan of cats. whereas seungmin on the other hand, just stares widely with amazement. chan taps felix on the shoulder, gesturing to snow leopard that was looking at the curiously. there’s no malice in these animals, felix could tell, his times spent at the local animal shelter was going to pay off.

together, they climb onto the cats and jisung is still hesitating. minho purses his lips and holds out a hand to him. changbin side-eyes felix, there was some interesting dynamic going on between the two. chan and felix had taken the snow leopard dori, changbin and seungmin took the black pather sooni. while minho and jisung had taken the most regal ride of them all, the white tiger doongi.

hyunjin declined the rides politely, morphing for another appalling time into the form of a large wolf. it turns to them, baring its fangs into a curdling grin and leaps headfirst into the clearing. but hyunjin disappears like a rippling stone on a body of calming water, there's a few seconds where everyone was too shocked to say anything.

minho reins doongi and jisung must be unconsciously clinging onto the prince. “hold tight.” minho tilts his head a little and whispers loud enough to jisung for felix to catch it. felix watches his friend gulps nervously and nod. together, they disappear. felix feels the wind rush past his ear as chan wraps his warm arms around his midriff, gripping onto the snow leopard’s fur safely.

there’s a moment of darkness, and suddenly they hit the ground. the are surrounded by dark trees but the animals are unfazed as they continue sprinting forward, felix feels the adrenaline of freedom hit him. everything seemed so surreal. up ahead, minho had lit up the eerie landscape with a ball of light from his hands.

million thoughts whirs through felix, this was too good to be true. and with no clue about the future, they charge head first into the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi ik this is sudden but since i'm aware of this now might as well spread it to everyone, so if you have a moment's time pls sign this petition: https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-frey-justice-for-george-floyd


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